Two Thirds
by Stitched In Ice
Summary: Three people, three possibilities. Because not everyone can be happy. Aokuro, Aokaga, Kagakuro. Un-requited love.
1. Second Best

It happens after they beat Touou. It's a gradual thing, and doesn't happen right away. It starts out slow but the fact is that it starts there and only keeps getting worse.

It's been less than a year since they've known each other, less than a year of playing basketball together, less than a year of being his light, but in less than a year it's already too late to pull back. Every faint smile, every soft touch, every quiet word, every pass– his pulse skyrockets and his throat clogs with emotion. Kagami's known him for less than a year but Kuroko's already stolen his heart.

They beat Touou, and Kagami's so happy, so _proud_, because this is what Kuroko wanted, what he so desperately desired and therefore what Kagami so desperately wanted. And maybe somewhere, deep inside he thought that maybe, maybe if they beat Touou, beat Aomine, maybe Kuroko might...

But that doesn't happen. What does happen, now that he's been beaten, is that Aomine starts being himself again. Starts being smiles and laughter and camaraderie. Starts enjoying basketball and going to practice and fistbumping again. And the new Aomine, the _old_ Aomine really, is the one that Kuroko first chose, first bonded with and played with.

He's never been anything but a replacement really.

It's starts off slow. Nothing big or obvious, but it happens. Kuroko still plays games with him of course, still gives him fistbumps and rare smiles and cherished embarrassing comments, but now he's doing the same things with Aomine again.

What had been a Kagami-and-Kuroko duo was now a Kagami-Kuroko-Aomine trio.

It takes him a while to realize that Kuroko feels nothing for him beyond friendship, sate and mild. Nothing like the ever intense bond between him and his old light, fierce and strong and still growing.

What was once Kagami-and-Kuroko, then Kagami-Kuroko-Aomine has become Kuroko-Aomine... and Kagami.

He's still not sure why he's so surprised. It was bound to happen eventually, after Aomine got that stick out of his ass.

Sometimes he almost wishes he could have lost that game against Touou and that Aomine could have kept living his life in arrogant solitude; but then he looks at Kuroko's smile, the tangible joy that Kagami himself could never elicit, all because of Aomine. He could never regret something that made Kuroko so happy.

Finally, at the end of a match, Kagami turns to offer his fist to Kuroko for their ritual post-game bump and... he's not there. No, Kuroko's on the sidelines already with a beaming Aomine and bumping fists with _him._

He wishes he could bring himself to hate them, either of them.

And he's watching their backs, side by side as they walk away from him, grow smaller and farther and he feels very cold inside. He wants to reach out, to pull him back, to scream at him _what about me?_

But he can't. Too far already, out of reach. Always out of reach. Rather the question is, _had he ever been within reach in the first place?_

It seems in the end, that his light had been too dim after all.

* * *

**Hahaha. Ow. Inspired by 'Primary Colors', where Kagami asks if his light is too dim. ;-; **


	2. Regretfully Replaceable

It's not that he thinks things will just repair themselves after the Winter Cup. He knows that he can't just walk back into Tetsu's life and expect everything to be the same again. He fucked up and he hurt Tetsu and despite the fistbump, he still has to make up for that.

He had expected _something_ to happen though. Anything really, a step back to what they had been. Not this... distance. Yeah, Kagami was his new light now but _he'd_ been the original, right? He was the one who'd spent the most time with him, grown with him, played with him.

Maybe it had been foolish of him to think so.

He hadn't expected for nigh on nothing to improve between them. Friendly smiles and nostalgic conversations... and nothing else.

He really had been a fool, hadn't he? They were older now, different now. They were in different schools, opposing teams... they couldn't go back to the way they were. And it was stupid of him to hope that they could.

So maybe, something new. Not like they'd been back in Teikou, but maybe something close. _Anything _close. Anything was better than this painful distance, this cold pretense. He didn't know how he could make up for what he'd done back then, how he'd so casually destroyed what they'd had, but he could damn well try.

Trying wasn't good enough.

It's almost shameful how long it takes him to realize nothing was changing, no matter how hard he tried. He didn't give up easily, but after months of nothing but futility, it slowly starts to dawn.

He'd fucked up. He'd _really _fucked up. Badly.

And he couldn't do a damn thing about it. The thing they'd had, the relationship they'd shared was _gone_. It wasn't coming back. _He_ wasn't coming back. Not after having been so easily tossed aside last time.

Something vile and hot burns in the pit of his stomach as he watches them play together. Tetsu and Kagami. The _new_ light. His replacement in every way. Tetsu smiles and he grits his teeth because that used to be _his_ smile, directed at _him_, not some second-rate light.

But even then, as angry and spiteful as he is, he's still thankful for Kagami, thankful for his deeds and his fire and his very existence. Not only had he brought back Aomine love for basketball (love for _life_), he brought back Tetsu's _smile_, the same one he himself had snuffed out.

He can't believe that he'd at one point called Kagami's light too dim, inferior to himself. No, Kagami was far better than him. In basketball, in attitude, in _resolve_.

In Tetsu's life.

He watches them smile and bump fists and Kagami slings an arm around Tetsu's shoulders, close as can be.

Perhaps it was _his_ light that had been too dim all along.

* * *

**So this is only my second time writing in Aomine's POV and frankly I think I'm way better at Kagami. This one gave me alot of trouble and I'm still not satisfied, but whatever. OOC as hell? Most likely.**


	3. Fade to Black

He'd thought perhaps, that after the match against Touou, his lights could get to know each other better. They were so similar after all, Kagami and the old (real) Aomine. He'd encouraged it even, with Momoi as his co-conspirator.

All according to plan as well. The two got along amazingly well after the initial hiccups. Two basketball idiots, larger than life and brighter than the sun. They were a perfect match, blending together seamlessly like two strands of crisscrossing light.

He's actually surprised he hadn't seen it coming.

He'd been glad that two of his closest friends could bond, that there hadn't been any animosity over replacement of positions. He pushed them together, made them interact, made them friends.

Really, there's no one to blame but himself.

Like old wine and fine dining, or perhaps more accurately a burger and fries, they complimented each other in everything they did, in attitude and basketball and zeal. Alone they were shining stars, bright and eye-catchingly beautiful, but together they were a supernova, searing into your retinas and hours later when you close your eyes, you can still see them, burning radiance.

It's at some point after Aomine starts calling him "Taiga" and Kagami starts making him bento that Kuroko realizes what's begun. They play together everyday, text each other non-stop through class, and practically glow when they set sights upon the other. Kagami's excuses all begin with "Sorry, but Aomine..." and Aomine's reason all begin with "Well, Kagami said..."

It would almost be cute if it weren't so devastating.

He starts to wonder if he's made a mistake.

They're supposed to be the light and shadow combination, but all too often he finds himself fading into the background like he always does, overlooked for something brighter and better. And he can't even blame them because his lights are both brilliant, bold and dazzling in every single way.

Because they were perfect and amazing and beautiful together. But when the light gets too large and too bright, the shadow starts to shrink and fade.

Pretty soon it's "Sorry Kuroko..." and "My bad Tetsu..." and he almost feels like crying because he's the one that started this all anyway. The two people who completed him and made him stronger have moved on without him.

It's like Teikou all over again.

He watches his lights, vivid and ablaze and he feels like suffocating as they walk away without him. And all he can do is watch because he knows they're too much for him and if he ran after them, he'd be burnt to ashes just trying.

Already so far away, but he can still feel their heat and see their glow.

They walk away from him and he fades into the scenery once more even as he cries for them to come back.

* * *

**Wow, writing Kuroko's POV is _hard_. Also, I may have used the words 'bright' way too many times. I tried using some synonyms but it didn't always work. Gimme a break man, this is my first time writing as Kuroko.**


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